Fleur de lis

Thanks everyone! This gallbladder situation was NO JOKE but I'm glad I got it taken care of before the move. And MissDiva, you look absolutely amazing!! I really need to get back into the gym as soon as I can. I've got a pretty important dress to wear in about 6 months

I don't know how long the recoup is for this surgery, but luckily I'll be moving to a place with a lot of walking space. If anything, I will start there.

Hey everyone! I know it's been FOREVER since anyone has seen a post from me, but here's how my life has been since my surgery on 9/27/10:

- I currently weigh 199. That's 134 lbs lost

-I got engaged on 10/27/11

-I went from a size 26/28 to a 14

-I'm moving to Seattle with my fiance next week

-In November, I was at work and had what I thought was a heart attack. After a trip to the ER, I found out I had gallstones. So yesterday I had my gallbladder removed and I'm hanging out at home trying to recover, while at the same time having to pack to move next Tuesday ANNNND go to Orlando this weekend to meet with wedding vendors.

That's how my life has been since surgery in a nutshell :biggrin5:

Congrats, that's awesome! You are so pretty!

Thank you so much!

Congrats. You are such a pretty girl.

Aww thank you

I'm SO happy for you!! I think this calls for some pictures, don't you?? (Pleeease?? We love pictures!!!)

This is my first time posting a picture in my comment, so I hope it worked. LOL.

The before is Jul 2010 (1 month before getting sleeved) and the after is a few days ago before I head out to Zumba

WOW!!! Congrats!!!! That's a wonderful accomplishment!! Keep up the good work!!!

Thank you!!

It's been almost forever since I've been on here. I am still in the mindset of avoiding the scale, even though I've been sleeved for 11 months now. The last time I stepped on the scale was maybe 2 months ago and I was elated to see I had lost 101 lbs. Today I got on the scale and I am 195. 195!!! The last time my weight had a 1 in front of it, I may have been 12.

I can't even believe this. I am ecstatic!!!

bread works fine for me. I do get fuller quicker, but I have no issues with my stomach digesting it. I was never a huge sandwich person to begin with, but again, I can eat it with no problem.

Even at my heaviest, I wore a normal width; wide width made the shoe way too big. So looks like I'm stuck with the feet I have

My arms aren't just stretchy, they're dimply, too. Pretty severely, like an extreme case of cellulite. I wonder if that will fade away with weight training....

I had to stop cold turkey. The day before my 2 week diet started, I had the biggest Pepsi I could find. Haven't looked back since.

I asked my nutritionist about why i can't have soda because I really wanted to get some sparkling Water, so I wanted to know if it was the sugar factor or the carbonation and she said both, but mainly the carbonation. She said the bubbles with stretch the pouch a little.

I'm a little less than 6 months out and 80 lbs down (my goal is -150). I didn't want to go back to the gym until I had lost about this much weight...I don't really have a reason why, I just feel more comfortable going now and things hurt/jiggle less. LOL. Anyways, I've noticed my arms are looking horrendous. So much so that I don't want to wear short sleeved shirts (let alone sleeveless). I've spent most of my time walking outside but now I'm ready to start with the weights. I'm wondering if, though, I've waited too long. With starting at 330 lbs, I kind of figured I'd have to have some work done on my arms, but as plastic surgeons have told me, it's a good idea to start doing some toning on my own and not just relying on surgery. I'm wondering how what kind of results I can expect and if anyone else had had good results on toning their arms.

You look great!!! Congratulations

Well, I thought I was doing pretty well, but now I'm not so sure. On March 27th, I will be 6 months out and I've lost about 70-ish lbs. Normally, I would be pretty excited about that but then I come here and there are people who are already at -100lbs in less time. I'm taking my Vitamins and keeping my calories around 800. I'm not entirely sure where I'm slipping up at......

I've done spinning before and after surgery, and the seat is killer either way. I do have a seat cushion, which helps slightly. And I have a friend that has the cushioned cycling pants and she swears by them. I think combined, they may help tremendously.

My surgeon told me this was a possibility, but since I hadn't been plagued by many of the post-op issues, I thought I could cruise past this one.

Not so much.

I was going to buy Biotin, but I wasn't sure if there was a certain dosage we should stick to? There were 500 mcg, 1mg, 1000 mcg etc, etc.

Can someone point me in the right direction? Also, what brand do you use?

I did. She said weight. Which I thought would be too much, but as long as I take my time and do it slowly, I feel okay.

So for a while now I've been wondering why I don't ever really feel full after eating, even when taking care to eat Protein first.

Then the other day I decided to actually weigh out my protein. Well, hello. Turns out I was eating wayyyyyyyy less protein that I should have been. I know you're probably thinking, duh, how else are you supposed to determine 4 oz? But for some reason I thought that I could eyeball it. Usually, I was eating about half of a chicken breast and then when I weighed out 4 oz, it was actually more than half.

So to those of you starting out your journey, I would absolutely recommend using your scale, or getting one if you don't already have one.

Woot! I actually went and worked out today like I said I would, instead of making Christmas Cookies. Go me!

I still have trouble with my left knee. I thought that after losing 50 lbs, it would start to ease up but so far, not so much. It isn't a constant pain; it only hurts when going up or down the stairs or if my crazy ass trainer gets me to do lunges. I'm hoping that the smaller I get, it will eventually start to decrease. Having another surgery is NOT something I want.....

Ideas for portable protein:

cheese sticks

greek yogurt

Protein bars (be careful about ingredients, calories, carbs, sugar alcohols, etc.)

hard boiled eggs

Protein shakes RTD (ready-to-drink)

beef Jerky (again being careful about nitrates, sugar added, etc....I usually make my own)

cottage cheese ( you can buy little individual cups or just use your own tupperware and fill it and keep it in a cold pack)

I hope you actually get a BREAK ...you SHOULD be having a snack at 10am ...esp. if you are feeling hungry. I think they are legal rules that employers must follow in regards to working x number of hours and getting x number of breaks per hours worked.

I think .5 hour lunch is fine, but then again I'm a contractor (I work for my former employer on a contract basis...no benefits, or legal lunch breaks, etc.) and I used to work 10 hour days and take only .5 hour lunch. It seemed like more than enough time. Now when I work, I never take a lunch break but hardly ever work more than 8 hours in a day. I eat at my desk, because my job is in front of a computer so it's not a big deal to eat and work at the same time. I don't take a lunch because I only get paid for the time worked, so I would rather get in, do my work and get out than take any type of unpaid break.

I get two 10 minutes breaks, outside of my lunch break. I thought about eating then, but I wasn't sure if 10 minutes was enough time to eat a snack. I'll probably wind up eating at my desk. Too bad I don't even have one yet LOL

Thanks everyone! I will be trying to incorporate a lot of these in the following weeks.

The worst part about it is I only get 1/2 hr for lunch. Is that normal? LOL it's been so long since I've worked so maybe that's standard, but I feel like I have to wolf down my food. But having some healthy Snacks with me should definitely help out.

I FINALLY got a job (after almost 2 years of being unemployed). This is my first job since surgery and I'm having a bit of trouble trying to figure out how to handle eating and making sure I'm not starving myself or overeating. I just started working on this past Monday and this week, I've brought the following for food:

Monday: carrot sticks, sandwich (chicken lunch meat and cheese), yogurt

Tuesday: ummm....nothing. It was birthday, along with another woman in the office, so we went to Olive Garden. I ate capellini pomodoro and chocolate cake. Yeah, I know.

Wednesday: leftovers from Olive Garden

Thursday (today): egg salad on a bed of lettuce, mandarin oranges.

And of course Water ALL DAY.

I've been getting up and eating Breakfast, usually consisting of egg white and either 1/2 a piece of wheat bread with sugar free jelly, or egg whites with 1/2 a bagel. I'm kind of lost on what to eat for breakfast, other than eggs, which I'm already sick of. However, by the time 10am rolls around, I'm ready to eat my arm but I just suffer until it's time to eat lunch at 12:30.

Any suggestions on things to take to snack on, or perhaps more filling foods to eat for lunch itself?

Thanks everyone!

I need to do this so badly. I had surgery on Sept. 27, and I think I've been to the gym twice. Maaaaaaybe 3 times. So right now, I'm pledging to get off my ass and work out at least 4 times a week. Starting soon? LOL. No, starting Monday. I know, I should start tomorrow, but then the week is over. And I'm being realistic here. So Monday I'm working out. No excuses.

I went with my bf to visit his family for Thanksgiving and his stepmother had a "Cuban Thanksgiving." I got full so quickly and I had probably less than 2 oz of turkey, a teaspoon of black Beans and rice, and a bite of stuffing. There was so much more stuff to sample, including about a million pies, but I by the time I finished what was on my plate, I couldn't eat anymore.

Thanksgiving was awesome and I didn't once feel deprived.